The Holmes I didn't know about!
WatchlistI was excited about Millie Bobby Brown’s Enola Holmes. It’s been a while since anything related to Sherlock Holmes had come out and Enola was not part of the established canon either. I was curious to see how it panned out.
Now obviously, this is not the first time writers put their own spin on the characters, a popular example being BBC’s Sherlock - a great show for the most part. But it stuck to characters we knew and just put them in new scenarios. Enola though, is a new character that I wasn’t aware of.
Enola is the Holmes brothers’ little sister. She grew up in total isolation and only had her mother for company. Her life is turned upside down when her mother goes missing and the brothers decide to send her away to a finishing school for ladies. But Enola, being the Holmes that she is, decides to find out what really happened to her mother while hiding from her brothers. It sure sounds interesting!
Turns out Enola Holmes is the titular character of a limited book series by Nancy Springer - The Enola Holmes Mysteries. This movie is based on the first book. On its own right, the movie is engaging enough and Millie Bobby Brown as Enola is quite fun. Many times, I found myself wondering whether I was watching Enola or just Brown being Brown! But Holmes is about the mystery and that is where it falls short.
Clearly, I haven’t yet read the books and all I have to go on is the movie itself. Midway through the movie, it becomes clear that there is more than one case to solve (3, by my count) and Enola is a smart kid. Things should have been more interesting but the mysteries take a backseat in this outing. It is more about the character. I didn’t really have a problem with it as long as I didn’t think about Sherlock.
Given the target audience, the mysteries were going to be simpler that the usual Sherlock cases. The smartest detective is a background character and two steps behind for most part. But to his credit, he does crack two of the three cases in his own style and with very little legwork. Enola still outsmarts him though. In a way, its fun to see the detective fail to his sister. She’s a Holmes, after all!
That minor complaint aside, I am definitely looking forward to see what happens next. Enola turned out to be a witty and fun character who does things her own way. There are more books to go through and if this film turns out be successful, that can happen soon!
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